What Our Week Looks Like.

I am sitting at the kitchen table, having just sent my daughter off to school. The calendar is sitting in front of me, and I am totally amazed at how quickly the next 6 months are filling up in terms of activities, outing, meetings, obligations, etc. As I think about this, I need to really take one week and maybe even one day at a time. For this week, it is our last week before my kids' and husband's spring break......every day before school for the last 2 weeks, my daughter has said "I need a break!" when I wake her up in the morning, so she will thankfully be getting it soon! For this week, it's looking like:

• Dentist appointments and hair cuts for both kiddos today.
• Regular day of teaching for me tomorrow......I have some major catch-up to do in my office.
• Karate on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
• Finish a mini-album that I am hoping to teach at a LSS.
• Sort through my kids' closets to box up outgrown clothes and get the closet ready for spring/summer; bring box to Byron Ministries.
• Order bathing suits for our upcoming Family Retreat Weekend that begins on Friday. Yikes! Is it really time to get into a bathing suit already???
• Work on taxes. Pray for a refund....preferably a large one.
• Write 2 exams for my classes on Thursday.
• Plan spring break. I am doing a "Spring Break Without Leaving Home" for us, since we are not going anywhere this year (with the exception of our weekend at a hotel for 3 of the days). I am planning on setting up our basement as a campground......tents and air mattresses.......with our portable firepit just outside the door.......and have a campout followed by a PJ/movie day on Wednesday. I am also probably going to plan a few days trips to the zoo and a little photo scavenger hunt around town, so that should be fun for the kids and us, too.
• March appears to be going out like a lion here.......we are supposed to get thunderstorms this afternoon, in the 60's, followed by weather in the 30's tomorrow. Crazy Michigan weather, I'm sick of you!
• Buy a birthday gift for one of my daugher's friends, whose party is on Saturday.

So that's what our week looks like at this point, at least as much as I can plan it out......what will you week bring?

Scrappy Friday.

I was up bright and early this morning and drove the 100 miles to Brighton, MI, where I have been scrapping at a store called Scrap Tales all day. I worked a bit on a mini-album, finished a layout, and did a few organizing things. I enjoyed a Greek salad and delectable breadsticks for lunch, and am now settling in for a quiet night's sleep in the hotel. I just finished some......and don't knock it before you try it.......hot buttered popcorn ICE CREAM. Yes, it sounds like some kind of freaky Harry-Potteresque jelly bean flavor, but it is actually very delicious. I got it at a fun place here called Maggie Moo's, which is similar to ColdStone Creamery. Tomorrow brings another day of scrapping with my SIS sisters....should be a fun and inspiring day. Night-night.

Cardboard Cars and the 3 Piggy Opera.

What do you get when you take a Pottery Barn shipping box, add some red spray paint, a few plastic plates, a couple of flashlights, and nearly a whole roll of duct tape....oh, and a few Heidi Swapp brads? A pretty cool little car for my son's drive-in movie day at preschool. Each child had to bring a cardboard-box car with them to preschool to sit in while watching their movie and munching popcorn today. So, my husband, son, daugther and I all pulled together to make this sweet little ride for him. I put the finishing touches on at 6 a.m. this morning.....never try to paint over duct tape, because it just falls off....but nothing that a roll of clear packing tape can't fix! Hayden was just thrilled with the turning steering wheel, the working flashlight headlights, and the personalized license plate on the back......and the Tranformers that we taped on as hood ornaments sent it over-the-top for my little guy! I think he was the envy of all of the preschool boys today, this car was just that cool! Tonight, he sat in it pretty much all night reading books and watching a movie. Oh, the simple joys of little boy lives!



















This afternoon, my daughter's first grade class performed their rendition of "The 3 Piggy Opera." It didn't surprise me that my daughter came home with the part of the Big Bad Wolf because she is always pretending that she's a wolf or a lion or some other kind of wild critter! What a joy it was to watch these kids perform. Mrs. Hill, her teacher, attended to every detail perfectly and made sure that the kids were very well-prepared. Here is what the scenery looked like.....so cute and colorful!


















Kennedy knew each of her parts perfectly and her singing voice just brought me to tears. She has evidence of a natural vibrato and has quite a vocal range for her age, too, and she was confident and smiled and just seemed to really enjoy performing. In the photo below, she was singing "I want a big.....fat.....pig to eat....I want a big.....fat......pig to eat..........yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy...mmmmmmmmmm." We have all been singing and humming these catchy little tunes all night! The arrangement was just so cute and perfect for 6-year-old performers. It was hard to snap photos with tears of pride running down my face! We are so proud of her and of all the kids....each of them did an amazing job, knew their singing parts, and just did a really fantastic job.























Thanks, Mrs. Hill, for all of your hard work and dedication to getting the kids ready for today and helping them to be confident and assured. It was such an enjoyable performance, one that I will remember for a very long time. Amazing job, first graders!

This has been ONE LONG WEEK! Tomorrow, I am leaving for some much-needed creative time with some friends. I will be gone for most of the weekend scrapbooking and creating and resting and hopefully being recharged. We got more snow here today, so I need to do something to lift my spirits, and creating will be just what I need. Matt and the kids will spend some time together and may catch "Horton Hears a Who." We are also waiting with some friends who are expecting their second baby any day now....so it could be an exciting few days. Happy weekend!

I've Got Music....All Over Me!

Kennedy and her classmates gave a wonderful music performance this evening, entitled "I've Got Music All Over ME!". Every last detail was well-thought out, from how the brightly colored t-shirts would look on stage to all of the energy-filled choreography that the kids performed. We are blessed in our district to have amazing fine arts facilities and to have a community that values quality arts programs. We are blessed in our school to have a wonderful, passionate, energetic music teacher (Thanks, Mrs. F.) and amazing teachers and principal who support the kids beyond what any parent could expect.

Kennedy is up in the top row (my tall, tall girl!) and knew pretty much every word and motion. She has been singing bits and pieces of these songs for weeks, but was very serious about keeping the songs secret so we would be surprised for tonight.

After work, I stopped by my favorite floral shop, Honeystone Floral, and the girls hand-tied me a sweet little bouquet of pink and white spring flowers to give Kennedy after the performance. She thought they were so cool, and I was pleased to see her smile. My little guy, Hayden, pouted the whole time because he wanted flowers, too. Sometimes, you just have to wait until you're in first grade, Sweet Boy. Your time will come all too soon.

Great job tonight, 1st and 2nd graders! I am so proud of you and your friends, Kennedy, and hope to see many more years of your musical talent. I'm sure I'll be humming and singing these jazzy little tunes for many days to come!

Tomorrow is all about constructing a car out of a cardboard box. Hayden's preschool class is having a "drive-in movie" day on Thursday, so thankfully, I saved a big Pottery Barn box and have a few cans of spraypaint.....stay tuned tomorrow to see what we come up with!

Best Wishes.

This past weekend, we attended the wedding of one of my husband's former football players. Daniel was one of the kids that we knew, even from a very young age, that he was special. He is a very, very hard worker and extremely humble. Daniel went from an extremely stand-out high school career to an exceptional collegiate football career at CMU. After graduation, he was drafted by the Chicago Bears where he signed a multi-million dollar contract. He was placed on Injured Reserve for his first season, but we are really hoping to be able to drive to Chicago to see him in action next season.

The wedding was very enjoyable. Dan and Candice seem very happy and make a very handsome, fun-loving couple. The meal was delicious and I must say that I have never seen so many large bodies in my life. Obviously, a lot of the attendees were football players. We sat at a table with Dan's agent/his wife, along with 2 other pro players-one free agent and one player for the Miami Dolphins. I joked with my husband that this was probably the ONLY time in his life that he was one of the smallest people sitting at the our table!! All in all, we had a very nice time and wish this young couple the very best as they begin their marriage journey.....And, GO BEARS!

He Is Risen.....Just as He Said!!

EAster is a special celebration around here for our family. We enjoy coloring eggs and making lots of creative designs (Friday night), and we love to search for filled eggs in the soggy outdoor grass (Sunday). I love to purchase a beautiful Easter dress for my little girl and some new pants and a shirt for my little guy (did this at the Gap on Friday afternoon). I love to stuff Easter baskets full of little gifts and games and toys and chocolate, and to see my kids enjoy their new goodies.

But, that is not what Easter is about. Not even close. Easter is about the ultimate life and hope. Can you imagine what it was like? To be walking solemnly to Jesus' grave, expecting to be visiting a sealed tomb.....and to find that impossibly heavy stone rolled away......to enter the tomb to see only grave clothes remaining. They must have been very confused. Worried that someone had stolen Jesus' body.......afraid.......deeply saddened. Shocked. And when did the questions start to set in? Could it be......could Jesus.....could He.....?? And then to be among those to whom Jesus appeared......could they believe their eyes? And then, the realization that it was Jesus.....ALIVE! Breathing......speaking......alive again. He had risen, just as He said he would.

Jesus rose from the grave and conquered death. In three short days, He went from the cruelest and most humiliating death on a cross to the cold grave and then......He rose again and, in that moment, sealed sin and Satan's fate forever. In those days, He fulfilled the plan that makes eternal life possible for me and for you and for all who believe in His name. He lived to die......and He died that we might live.......simple as that.

So today is about celebrating. Jesus is alive. He lives not just removed in a faraway place, but He lives inside of me and all who believe in Him. And He calls us BY NAME to himself, that we might also claim victory over sin and death.

Happy Easter! But, even so, this is not the end of the story. For you see, Jesus is Alive and He has planned out an amazing eternity for us with Him in paradise. And that is what we are celebrating today....the story isn't over!!!

So, I hope that you enjoyed all of the eggs and candy and bunnies and baskets and ham dinners.....we sure did! But even more, I hope that hope and gratitude fill your heart, and that you claim personally the truth of Jesus' death, Jesus' resurrection, and an eternity with Jesus!!! That is the never-ending story!!

It is Finished.

The skies must have been dark and gray and hanging thick with dread. There must have been a mysterious, ominous air in the surrounding city. The psychological tone must have been a dreadful mix of horror and anticipation and curiosity. Some knew that an innocent man was going to be put to death, and they were in mourning. Others knew that an innocent man was going to be put to death....and they were smirking and proud and anxious. But I can't help but feel that even those who were actively convicting Jesus and putting him to death must have felt, deep down, a sense of dread....was this really the Savior? After all, I believe that every human soul has within it a deep yearning to find and be connected to our Creator God. At some level, they knew.

Only hours earlier, Jesus had gone to the mount to pray and had pleaded with His Heavenly Father to save him. To let the cup of death pass from him. I have always appreciated this portrait of Jesus pleading before His death, because I can relate to his humanity here. In his heart of hearts, Jesus knew that this was what he was sent to earth to walk in human shoes to do. He knew that his death on the cross was imminent. Yet He knew that it would be agonizing and immensely lonely and brutal. If only there was another way? But there wasn't.

Often times, we tell the story of Jesus' death and skip over the brutal truth of it. But, the stark truth is, it was torturous. I cannot fathom the sheer weight of that cross, both physically and emotionally. The pain of the sharp rocks digging into Jesus' bare feet as he walked half-naked. The physical challenge of dragging that cross up a rugged path and then a steep hill--even being unable to bare it alone and needing help in taking up the cross--having nothing to drink and likely very little to eat in the hours leading up to His torture. And remember that Jesus had been whipped repeatedly, with sharp bones and pieces of glass, so his flesh was already ripped open and gaping and bleeding. How weak He already must have been and how overcome with physical pain, likely almost to the point of passing out. The sharp long woody thorns roughly stabbed into his head and brow, piercing sensitive skin and bleeding profusely. Somehow, as a child, I envisioned that the soldiers just set the little thorns on his head and whipped him a bit, but I don't think that's how it was....I think they pressed and stabbed as hard as they could, making sure that the thorns thrust deeply into his skull and forehead. I think they whipped him so hard so as to rip his skin and muscles wide open. The mockery. The unending scourning and hateful words thrust at Him. And that was only the beginning. The ripping flesh and cracking bones that must have occurred when he was nailed to the cross. The thirst and dehydration that undoubtedly ensued. The piercing and the mocking and the knowledge that your loved ones were in the crowd, watching this torturous death. Yes, it is gross and it is sickening and it brings burning tears to my eyes, but it is real. And I believe that we need to know, as much as we can, what the cross and Jesus' death was like so that we can fully grasp the lengths to which He would go for me and for you. I know that one day I will sit with Jesus, see and feel his scars, and hear Him tell this story in His own voice from His own heart. And I will sit mesmerized by His voice and His words and His sacrifice and His love.

And the worst part, something that we cannot even humanly fathom......Jesus was alone and apart from His Father for the first time. By taking all of our filthy disgusting sin upon himself, Jesus knew that He would be separating himself temporarily from God. Our sins were so black and dreadful and filthy and revolting that the Holy Father could not even look upon His son. And that, we are told in the Bible, was the most excruciating pain of all.

And then, after many torturous hours hanging with flesh tearing and blood flowing and organs gradually shutting down and hate being spewed from the crowd and the psychological turmoil that must have been stirring in Jesus' mind.....he said those words. Those words that resonate in my mind today: It is finished.

No, Jesus did not mean that His life was over. He knew that he would live again. It is finished. His calling in this world, God's plan for redeeming his sinful children and offering to them eternal life in paradise, was accomplished. It is finished.

And through that act, every single sinful act and thought that I, you, and every human through history committed was put to death. IT IS FINISHED. And Jesus gave up His spirit.

But, gloriously, that is not the end of the story of Good Friday. This does not end with torture and pain and death and separation and mourning. Stay tuned....the journey doesn't end here........

Random Glimpses of Our Week.

Here is Kennedy finishing the first Harry Potter book. She is 6 years old. And she is already on Chapter 5 in the second book.
















Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma, for staying with us on Monday and fixing us a yummy stew for St. Patrick's Day. We are Irish and proud of it!
















I guess this is what happens when you leave the room for a minute with your four-year-old boy and your 9-month-old baby niece together playing.....She becomes cargo in the dump truck.....but, don't worry Mommy! She was safe and giggled the whole time!
















Enjoying some time playing in the rain earlier this week. Tomorrow, we're supposed to get several inches of snow. Come, Spring, Come!
















Playing with the fun magnetic words at the Children's Museum....getting all dreamy and philosophical.....
















We bought Hayden Superman PJs when we were up in Traverse City. He loves them and wore them for 72 hours straight. Here, he wore them over his jeans to the Children's Museum. "Just call me Superman, Mom." OK, Big Boy. Love you, Superman!























We're dealing with a bug here in our home. Kennedy came home from school at noon with a sore throat, fever and headache. She has laid low all day and will hopefully soon be on the mend. Just a few snapshots of what our week has looked like.

Sharing in Their Journey.

Sometimes, along life's way, we encounter areas of the journey that are different that what we had planned and expected. And often, the road takes different twists and turns, has different road signs and potholes, and may even bring us to the same destination a different way.....or to a different destination altogether. This is my sister, Kendra, and her husband, Dan. They were married 2 years ago in a beautiful December ceremony in snowy northern Michigan. This photo of them was taken on their honeymoon to the Dominican Republic. Ever since they were married, they knew that they wanted children to be a part of their family. But in many months of trying to conceive, and after many tests, they were told that it would be very difficult for them to conceive a child on their own. Obviously, with that news, comes many emotions and questions and confusions......

After many months of seeking God's will, Kendra and Dan are in the beginning stages of in vitro fertilization. Right now, they are in the "injection" and "ultrasound" stage which leads up to the actual egg retrieval, fertilization, and implantation. Kendra and Dan--and our whole family--are trusting God mightily in this process and relying on Him in His way and with His timing. But there are understandably lots of emotions and questions and fears and unknowns and cryings out in this process.

At my urging, my sister is keeping a blog to document some of their experiences, feelings, reflections, and prayers in this journey. I asked Kendra if I could share their story and link to her blog, and she gave me the go-ahead. So please read this when you get a few moments: http://www.walkintherain73.blogspot.com/
. You will be challenged and humbled and thankful for your own children (if you have them) and will shed some tears. But ultimately, I hope that you will see their strong faith in this journey and will commit to praying for them in the next few weeks.

Basically, they will undergo multiple ultrasounds, injections, etc. over the next 7-12 days, culminating in the actual procedure which, we pray, will result in a little one beginning to grow inside my sister's womb. The nurse told them that in 2 weeks' time, they could be pregnant! How elating (yet scary) it must have been for them to hear these words.

Kendra and Dan are very loving and committed Christian people. They will provide a safe, loving, stable home for children and they will raise their little ones up to first love God and Jesus Christ above all else. They love God passionately and are first and foremost looking to HIm in all of this.

Thanks in advance for your prayers for Kendra, Dan, and their medical team during this journey. They are glad to have you along for the ride! And if you will join us in praying for Kendra and Dan, will you please take a minute to leave a comment both here and on Kendra's blog.....how encouraging it will be to read those comments and know that others are joining us in lifting this amazing couple up to our Great God!

Home.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! It looks like we had a little bit too much green food today.....but really, I just couldn't resist playing in Photoshop a bit here. We arrived home to a delicious Irish stew dinner...and the best thing was that my mother-in-law made it, so all I had to do was sit down and enjoy it....and do the dishes after! It's always amazing that things taste so much better when grandma makes them....even my kids had to remind me of this! It was wonderful to see the kids and hug them and see their joy at what we brought them from Traverse City.....jelly bellies and shortie PJs that start out in an itty-bitty bundle and you have to put them in water for them to expand. Cute.

I will be back to teaching this week....it's hard to believe only 6 more weeks until the end of the semester and year. The next few weeks are very busy for us with weddings and EAster celebrations and spring break and crops.....so the time will undoubtedly go fast.

I hope you all got to enjoy a bit o' green today.......sweet rainbow-and-pot-o-gold dreams! Just stay away from the leprechauns....I hear they can get pretty grouchy!

Sunday.

Today was all about rest, as Sundays should be in my opinion. Matt had meetings, and I did a bit of browsing and a bit of scrapping and, most importantly, a bit of napping. Tonight, we enjoyed a VERY TART virgin marguirita at the Red Mesa, along with some jack stuffed shrimp and pork burrito.....we usually love this restaurant, but it for some reasons wasn't as good tonight. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our time together and are now settling in for our last night before heading home. As always, the weekend went fast but we are ready to see our kiddos! Here we are on the balcony overlooking the very frozen Grand Traverse Bay. In a couple of months, this will be a bustling scene with boats and beach-goers......and this room will skyrocket in price.....gotta' love a late-winter bargain! Sweet Dreams.

Time to Breathe.

I am writing from still-wintery Traverse City, from our suite overlooking the gorgeous Grand Traverse Bay. Matt and I are enjoying time in between his conference sessions to just rest and laugh together and watch movies and share meals, just the two of us. It makes me wonder why we don't do this more often. When you have young children, as many of you young readers can surely attest, you can become so singly focused on meeting their needs and raising them to be caring and God-loving people, that you don't focus as much as you should on what brought you together in the first place. I am a firm believer that the best, most lasting investment you can make in the lives of your children is the time, work and energy that you invest in having a vibrant, growing, God-honoring marriage. So that is what this weekend is all about, and we are loving every minute of it.

Yesterday, I got some creative time in while Matt was in his meetings all day. I went to a local store called Forget-Me-Not Scrapbooking and made some good progress on a couple of projects.....I will share later! Then we met for dinner and enjoyed what was seriously the most delicious burger we have ever eaten. It was at a fun little bar & grill called BUBBA's, a newer restaurant in downtown Traverse City. Seriously, I don't typically choose burgers when we got out, but I went for the Bubba Burger this time because it was the house specialty. And it was delectable. It tasted as if the meat had been slow cooked on a BBQ grill for a long time, perfectly seasoned, and served hot directly from the grill. My husband agreed that it was the best burger he has eaten. We sat up at the bar, where all the action was....and it was just a fun, delicious meal that made us feel young again.....not that I have spent a lot of nights bellied up to the bar, because I pretty thankfully opted out of that scene in my adolescent years.....but it was just a fun atmosphere. We may head there for lunch again today, it was just that yummy!!

Rainbows from Australia!

One of my very favorite things about the art of scrapbooking is the amazing group of women that I have met from all over Michigan and from around the world. Take this little package of rainbow yummies that I received this morning in my mailbox. This is from Deb, who lives in Australia, and it is filled with gorgeous handmade papers, ribbons, buttons, little color bits, chocolate koala bears and lots of other cool stuff.....straight from Down Under! I love getting a global perspective on this art.....thanks, Deb! You made my day....your USA Rainbows will be arriving soon!

Matt and I are off this afternoon for our annual weekend getaway.....well, really, he is going for a conference but we also take time to sleep in a bit, enjoy some nice meals together, take walks along the bay, and just reconnect. Oh....and I will get some scrapping and go on some photography adventures while he is in meetings. More later from beautiful northern Michigan.....

Picnics+PlayDates+New Belts+Play=WHEW!

This spring break is going by in a busy blur. It makes me totally wonder how I fit in time to go to work during my typical week! Motherhood is totally, TOTALLY a full-time plus job, and I am seeing that this week magnified. Today was insanely busy, busy, busy. After getting both kids to school and having a few minutes to myself while Hayden was in school, I picked him up and we enjoyed one of our favorite things: A picnic! Now, usually we prefer warm-weather picnics but, because there is still snow on the ground here in Michigan, we had to settle for Happy Meals on a blanket in the middle of the living room floor. There's not much that is more happy than sharing Happy Meals with my little boy on a regular old Wednesday afternoon.

After lunch, our little friend Braylin came over for a playdate. She and Hayden had fun playing Barbie's and pirates and horsies and Dora. Then, they dressed up and performed a dancing show for me, garbed in all of the strings of beads that I got from the Mardis Gras parades...so cute.

After Braylin left, we had only a few minutes to breathe before heading off to karate. Today was a testing day, meaning that the kids had to demonstrate their basic forms and movements in order to advance to the next belt level. We proudly watched as both of them became yellow-white belts....they have made so much progress and growth. And it is always fun to see them use their ever-strengthening kicks to break a board! And what kid doesn't like to break things once in a while! I was especially proud of Kennedy, who actually broke an adult board (as opposed to a kid board) today....she is getting pretty accurate and strong with her kicks.
After karate, we grabbed a quick burger at Wendy's before we were off to our high school's production of "Beauty and the Beast." And it was phenomenal. Very talented young men and women, great scenery and effects....it was hard to believe that those were high school kids out there. Both kids really loved the play and asked to go again. Who knows, maybe I'll see them on stage some day? We got home late--almost 10:00 pm--which means that tomorrow will be a tough morning to get the kids out of bed. But it was worth it, it was that good.
Tomorrow brings another school day, lunch with a dear friend, and a meeting about potentially starting to teach at a local scrapbook store. And then.....I hope I get to rest sometime during this crazy break! I'm a bit bummed that I won't even get a single PJ day on my break.....but I guess that's par for the course at this stage in my life. Good night!

Sweet Sunday Guest.

Today started like most "Spring Ahead" days do....feeling tired and like we lost an hour of sleep! I was picking up the basement when I got a call from my brother, who came down with a nasty flu. So, we quick baby-proofed the house and got to entertain my sweet 9-month-old niece, Samantha, for the day. It was so fun to see how much she has grown and changed....she is very mobile, picks up every little piece of this and that from the floor, pullls herself up next to furniture/legs/whatever she can get her little hands on, and has become such a ham with a great sense of humor! We had a lot of fun and took a lot of photos....these were my favorites:

Sunny {but Cold} Saturday.

Our day started with me waking up at 7:00 am totally SANDWICHED between my two kids. Each kid laying on an arm, and I couldn't move. Whenever Matt is gone, we usually all sleep together slumber-party style, and last night was no exception. After baths, we headed off to our first stop of the day: The Choo-Choo Grill. The Choo-Choo Grill is an historic building that began as a train station and a coal building, and was converted in the 1950's to a restaurant. It is your typical diner only SMALLER....the place consists of 2 booths and about 10 counter seats. The kids thought it was so cool to sit at the counter and watch their food being cooked on the open grill. It is kind of like a little community in there---very friendly waitstaff and lots of regulars, all engaging in one big conversation. I enjoyed my taco salad (hold the salad, though, which was a bit bizarre) and the kids loved their choo-choo burgers and tuna sandwich. We'll definitely be back for more of the Choo-Choo Grill, and hope to try their breakfasts next time.


















After lunch, we headed to the John Ball Park Zoo for Kennedy's Brownie Troop Zoo Outing. We always enjoy a good day at the zoo and, while it was quite cold today, the sun was out in full force and the animals were generally active. The kids did a little scavenger hunt looking for animals that fit into different categories (i.e., animals without feathers but with wings; animals with 8 legs, etc). Even Hayden got into the search and did a great job writing his letters. Favorites of the day included seeing the bears wrestling and playing, and hearing the tiger roar! And, chimps are always favorites of the day. All in all, it was a great day and we got some great photos and great exercise. No trip to the zoo is complete without a climb on the John Ball statue; this is very nostalgic for me because I know that me and my siblings used to climb on that very same statue on our family's trips to Grand Rapids and the zoo.


























Tonight, Matt got home just in time for us to bring Kennedy to Little Dawgs' Fun Night up at school. As you can see, she had a lot of fun with her friends and got some cute face and arm painting done. Tomorrow comes church and a day of relaxation. Happy Saturday night!

Friday Fun with Friends.

We had a very fun Friday with friends, complete with playing, pizza, movies, and lots of laughter. We are very fond of the S. family; Matt and Chad work and coach together, so our families are getting to know each other better these days. I dropped Hayden off after lunch to play with Braylin, this sweet little redhead in these photos. She is such a fiery little thing, with lots of sweet energy and attitude! She and Hayden had so much fun and kept her mom, Rhianna, hopping. Oh, and did I mention that Rhianna is ready to give birth to their second child any day now?? AFter Kennedy got home from school, we picked up some pizzas and "chocolate icicles" (Hayden's word for fudgesicles) and headed over to share dinner and the movie "Mariposa." Yes, that is the newest Barbie movie, and the kids were mesmerized by it....yes, even Hayden! The kids really enjoy each other....and I'm pretty sure that Rhianna will sleep very well after keeping these two kiddos busy all afternoon. I will definitely be returning the favor and taking Braylin over here next week.....and maybe we'll have a new baby by then, too?
Here are my new photos that I just got back from the photographer this week. I just love how they turned out. Each of the kids' photos reflects their personality so well, and that one of our feet just makes me smile. I picked up a frame today at Michael's....the photo is 24 inches by 36 inches, so the frame was a bit pricey, but I really like how it looks in our back family room. It's fun to have a family photo that is a bit out of the ordinary, and my new friend, Stephanie, did a wonderful job capturing what I asked her to. Thanks, Stephanie!



Tomorrow, I am taking the kids to the Choo-Choo Train Grill for breakfast, and then we are off to the zoo for a Girl Scouts outing. Tomorrow night, Kennedy will be with her friends at the high school for Little Dogs' Fun Night, so maybe Hayden and I will hit the mall for a movie. Matt is at a clinic this weekend, so we are just planning to hang out, get some cleaning and projects accomplished, and have some good down time.

Spring Break To-Dos.

My spring break begins tomorrow at 6:00 pm....can I hear a loud "AMEN!" Seriously, where did January and February go? I feel like I just packed the Christmas stuff away, and here we are on the brink of spring.

As I am sitting here having breakfast in my favorite cafe (eggs, toast and bacon, with a decaf. coffee and a large Diet Coke), I am trying to set my plan for what I want to accomplish next week in my time off. So here is the list as it stands right now:

Sort clothes......Bring a LARGE load to Byron Ministries. I would really like to pare my wardrobe down to only those things that I love and that are high quality.

Paint bedroom; When we bought this home, all of the walls were some shade of white. Now, I have painted nearly all of the rooms, except for two upstairs bathrooms and our bedroom. I would love to get this painting done next week.

Organize scrap studio.........Let's just say that we have the "creative whirlwind" look going on in there at the moment. I have been working on some big projects, and my supplies have migrated into the whole basement. I am going to move the guest bed out of my room (sorry--if you come to visit, we'll set you up on a really cozy pull-out bed, I promise!) to make room for another set of shelves. I need to sift through and organize my paper and embellishments, and I'm going to send out a huge box of stuff to my new friend, Christy, who I met in New Orleans. She lost all of her kids' baby photos in the hurricanes, and she is basically just starting over. She has 5 kids and I helped her make her first scrapbook page while I was visiting a scrap store in New Orleans. BTW, if you have some old but nice supplies that you won't use, I would love to send them to Christy.....leave a comment, and I'll send you my address.

Hang curtains in laundry room and get all of the walls decorated; I painted my laundry room right before Christmas, and I got some cute curtains from IKEA. Now, I just need to hang the curtains and get my decor on the wall. I am hanging letters to spell the word "FRESH" (to counteract the effect of my hubby's stinky socks and BVDs in there) and I bought a rub-on from UpperCase Living that says "Loads of Fun"..the perfect sarcastic sentiment regarding laundry, if you ask me! This room looks really cute in my mind, now I need to bring that vision into reality.

Create: I want to spend some substantial time next week just creating! I have a few ATC sets to finish, and some photos from the last couple of months that I want to scrap.

I am not totally rigid about getting all of these things accomplished, because I also want to have some relaxation time, but I would love to get as many of these projects as possible knocked off my list.

Next Friday, Matt and I are headed to Traverse City for a long weekend. The kids are going to Grandpa and Grandma's for a weekend of fun. Matt will be at a conference most of the time, so I will be doing a bit of scrapping, a bit of shopping, visiting some friends that live up there, and lots of sleeping in! We have done this for the past 3 years and I really enjoy the time away, just us. Well, off to buy my new "Big Bite" before picking up Hayden from school.....and for all you non-scrapppers out there, that is the latest and greatest hole-puncher for use with chipboard and other scrap projects. Happy {Sunny} Wednesday!

Wizards+Style+Charm+ A Great Report!

Can I just say.....I love this kid. From the day she was born, Kennedy has been a pure joy to me. I love that her personality is so complex.....she is sometimes spontaneous, sometimes skeptical.......she can be a totally playful kid one moment and a deeply thoughtful intelligent little-grownup-type-kid the next. She loves to pretend she is a puppy and cuddle under a quilt with me.....but she also reads and understands things well beyond her years. She challenges me to be a better person and to be the best mom and person that I can be. She keeps me firmly grounded in what is truly important in this world.

This is a photo of Kennedy on Friday night. We were preparing to go out for dinner with the other families on our coaching staff....and she was upstairs for a long time. She came down with this outfit on......complete with purple socks, sparkly gold shoes, a pink camo. purse, and rainbow headband. And of course, her jean jacket, "so I can be just like you, Mom!". Does this girl have style or what? And that camoflauge purse? It is filled with all of her makeup and perfume. And we had to negotiate the earrings...she can down with some huge black hoop clip-ons, but we decided that those should be saved just for special dress-up play :) I just love this girl's sense of style.....a woman at the restaurant approached me and said "I just want you to know that your little girl is charming." Yes, she is. Charming is a good word. Love this kid.

On the way home, from the backseat of our new minivan, we hear, "Mom, can I read Harry Potter?" What? Did I really just hear that question from my child? Why can't we stick to Pippi Longstocking and Little House on the Prairie and Animal Ark a little longer? I expected this question eventually, but not out of my 6-year-old. Can I pretend that I didn't hear it and just shove another "Little House" book into her hands? Her reading skills are very well developed, and she just can't seem to get enough chapter books. But she doesn't tend to like many of the Junie B. Jones books (which is fine with me.....this is NOT my favorite series) and is drawn toward science and animals and the like. So, we have talked, and we decided to read the first chapter of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" together to see how she processes the material. Of course, we also had a detailed discussion about magic and witchcraft and wizards and pretend and fiction vs non-fiction. Whew.

And tonight, she is nearly finished with Chapter 5. She read for more than 170 minutes today alone. It is hard reading material....and she is handling the words just fine. And when I ask her questions to check her comprehension....she is right there. She gets it.

And I guess she comes by this interest honestly. When I was young, I loved books with a science fiction edge. My favorites were "A Wrinkle in Time", "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and "Bedknobs and Broomsticks." But I was much older than 6. And I don't recall my mom having much of an opinion one way or the other about what I read.

So, we are reading Harry Potter together and discussing the ideas and characters. And she is just drinking in the imagination of it all. In fact, one of the characters in the book made a statement about hating imagination. And she exclaimed, "How can you hate imagination? I love imagination!!!!" Oh, if I can somehow get her to hold onto that attitude as she grows up, so she doesn't become an adult who no longer values play and creativity and imagination....now that would be a life well lived.

Tonight, we had our second parent-teacher conference of the year. We are so proud of how hard Kennedy is working and what she is achieving. We are so thankful for our wonderful school and our amazing first grade teacher and for our intelligent, thoughtful, creative little girl. We can't believe that we are nearly 3/4 of the way through first grade....where has the year gone? What an amazing gift God has given us in you, sweet Kennedy....just wanted you (and the world) to know. You are charming, Girl.

Weekend Highlights.

Today (Sunday) was not as relaxing as I like Sundays to be. My husband decided to clean out our front room...which basically means he shifted all of the accumulated clutter into the kitchen. And then, I turned around and he was cleaning out the back of the truck (Yikes!).....which doubled the stuff sitting on my kitchen table. That is NOT my idea of a relaxing day of rest, BUT it was nice to have the front room straightened and the car cleaned. After the cleaning whirlwind, we spent some time outside building snowmen...hopefully the last of the winter. We had just finished the snowmen when it began to rain and thunder and lightning....very strange for March in Michigan....but hopefully it means that spring is on its way!

Saturday was a nice day. I met a couple of friends in GR for some scrapping and a nice lunch at a great little cafe (Good Food Cafe). I had probably one of the best sandwiches I have every had.....turkey and coleslaw and Thousand Island, YUM! I got a few sets of ATCs done, which is good given that I am in several swaps that are coming due.

On Friday, we hosted a coaches' dinner for my husband's football coaching staff.....it was a lot of fun to connect and get to know these couples better. And the kids had so much fun with the other kids, also.

Other highlights:

Kennedy started her own blog, "Colors of Kennedy." She is so excited and has been writing in it frequently. She even had me teach her how to make a photo collage on Flickr. What a great writing and creativity tool, I must say.

Hayden had a tough week for a little guy last week. On Monday, one of his preschool classmates bit him, and then his best friend from our neighborhood punched him in the face. My suggestion: Let's take a little break and play with some other kids for a couple of days. His suggestion: Mommy, I need to forgive them. How cool is that? When we got to school the day after the kid bit him, I observed Hayden walk directly up to the boy and say "I forgive you for biting me. I will be your friend." And this was all of his own decision. Talk about a model of forgiveness. I was humbled and so very, very proud of him.

The Girl Scout cookies are here, so we spent part of Friday sorting them into our orders. So....what is your favorite flavor? I have always been a Thin Mint girl, though I also like the peanut butter sandwich cookies. Of course, we had to sample all the flavors just to make sure they were good-quality!

Getting set for my final week before spring break. I have a big project at work that needs to be closed up by Friday, so it will be a big week.....but then a break........I am so ready for a break from my routine.